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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Sometimes one opportunity turns into a greater opportunity. That is just what happened when I spoke at
the KimberAcademy
in Mesa a few
weeks ago (click here to read more about that). Director Nancy Genys
introduced me to a fundraiser for Kimber Academy called theRaise the Standard event; an evening of uplifting
speakers, including Glenn Beck, discussing how we can be stronger in our faith,
families, education and country.

I was so impressed with the upcoming event, I offered to help with
marketing. With the assistance of a
friend, we made this youtube video.

I worked through social media to get the
word out. The music on the video is “Miracle”,
a song my brother Matt produced with his band Olin on his album Open Book. The song “Miracle” struck such a cord with Nancy, she asked if
Matt would perform at the Raise the Standard event.

Matt was thrilled to do it, but small problem, he lives in Hawaii and is usually doing something like this:

or this

or this.

And now that he's married his sweet bride, life is that much sweeter!

But Matt, in
his passion to live life to the fullest and support Raising the Standard didn’t
see an ocean as an obstacle, so a few days before the event, he showed up. I rarely see Matt without his guitar, so here
he comes walking into my house guitar in hand ready to sing his heart out. He must have sang “Miracles” over a thousand
times throughout his life, but for the next three days he rehearsed in front of family and friends,
strangers, even in the dark with his eyes closed. Comerica theater was where he was
introduced to his amazing choir of the sweetest elementary-aged girls ever; the
icing on the cake.

The Raise the Standard event on October 11th was
amazing.

Here we are with Glenn Kimber, founder of Kimber Academy.

Each speaker was better than the next. I learned so much about America's constitution,
morals in education and how amazing our children are. What impressed me the most was the
accomplishments of young people in the founding of our country. Many of the youth were leaders in the
military, assisted with government tasks, worked the pony express and more. They were innovative, hard working and
dedicated. The idea is to teach our
children strong character traits and morals too. So much of society has become stuck in adolescence
and idle time, when life is full of opportunity to leave our mark for good.

The next day, Saturday October 12 was a day of work shops at Clearview Cultural Center with Glenn Kimber and others from the night before. I particularly liked Ted Hayes and his ideas on how to unite our country on racial issues,

What is My Dear Trash?

After I was sexually abused, I felt like trash. Through God's love, I was able to find my worth again. My Dear Trash is about finding value where others may not see it, in ourselves, in our world, in our unborn and in our relationships and with God.

View the book trailer for my memoir Starving Girl by clicking on the image below.